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Windows 7: I Broke Windows 7

Because of the unusual RAID configuration, I recommend you check out the manufacturer's support website and follow their instructions for a full restoration of the OS. They should have the information. If you were intent on customization of the original system configuration and know what you want, then you could follow the tutorials on this website, but I'm not sure you would have your unusual RAID up and running as the manufacturer intended.

So I'm looking for the POST RAID config menu thing, and all I can find is some Intel documents that state that pressing F2 should let me choose some raid stuff under the advanced settings. My F2 just gives me memory test and HD check options. ctrl+i only gives boot to win7 or memory diagnostic tool options. Google doesn't seem to be offering any alternatives....

You need to check the system technical documentation on the manufacturer's website to determine how they implemented this version of the IRST with a 500GB hdd and a 32GB ssd.

Just got the HD info. I booted to live Ubuntu to check, and, conveniently, I was able to save ~50GB of pictures and school documents, which is nice =). Which also means the hard drive is detected and alive and whatnot.

ATA Hitachi HTS72755 (500.1GB)

What about your ssd?

Because you've only provided sketchy information, we can't give you a clear path to a clean install and original out of box configured system.

If you want this system running as good as new, you need to give us all the specs in detail so we can ensure you have clear instructions and that you understand those instructions to do the clean install. Greg is right about the details, because if you don't do it correctly, you will have issues to deal with later.

We may even be able to give you a modified task list to get you to a new condition system, but with added tools so you can resolve issues like this in the future faster.

So I'm looking for the POST RAID config menu thing, and all I can find is some Intel documents that state that pressing F2 should let me choose some raid stuff under the advanced settings. My F2 just gives me memory test and HD check options. ctrl+i only gives boot to win7 or memory diagnostic tool options. Google doesn't seem to be offering any alternatives....

If you have a POST RAID config menu, you would see it for maybe a second as the various text is displayed on the monitor during POST. You've got to be quick. I used to have to reboot many times to be able to read all the POST text, because it's displayed for a very brief few seconds. I get to my POST RAID menu by depressing Ctrl-I. Your system may be different. It could be a function key. We don't know, because we don't have your system technical documents.

Regards

Did you ever see a POST screen that showed your disks and their status? If so, that would be your IRST POST RAID config menu screen. If you ever saw it, look at the text on the bottom of the screen. It should tell you what keys to depress to enter the RAID config menu.

Also, you may have noticed an IRST icon in the system notification area or system tray. Mine looks like a disk drive with a green check mark to indicate status. You may have something similar. If you click on this icon in the windows environment, you'll start the Intel RST utility. If your system uses this utility, there is ample technical information in the help menu.

I think on the thread starter's system, the BIOS Intel Rapid Storage Technology options are enable or disable. On a typical Intel RST RAID volume which contains the active system partition, if you change the BIOS IRST option, it won't boot. This system may be different.

He's trying to get the HDD recognized to reinstall. Only the SSD shows up

If you read the IRST Reinstall tutorials I linked he needs to turn off IRST to get them to both show up. Then follow the rest of the steps to install and re-enable IRST or leave them separate. As I said earlier we've even helped OP's install the OS to the 32gb SSD before and they liked it better The speed difference only having paging file and boot on SSD is negligible from what we've had reported.

I don't think you can disable BIOS IRST, install the OS and then enable BIOS IRST and have a working RAID volume. You'll have a two drive system with the OS on the C:\ drive that accepted the Win 7 install and a D:\ drive second disk.

If you then go back and enable the Intel RST in the BIOS after installing the OS, the system won't boot.

On my Intel boards, if I want a RAID volume, I must first select RAID as my BIOS SATA configuration option. I then have two ways to create a RAID volume. The first is to install the OS without configuring a RAID volume in the POST RAID config menu. The OS will install on whichever drive I select creating the partitions as part of the install. Once I have the OS installed and my Intel RST driver downloaded and installed on the OS, I can use the Intel RST utility to create a RAID volume using any combination of hdds from two to the most I have on the board. The second way to install a RAID is to create the RAID volume with the POST RAID config menu. Then, the OS will install directly onto the RAID volume. The BIOS SATA option must be set to RAID in all cases or no RAID is possible on that install. If I install the OS with the BIOS SATA option set to AHCI (Advanced Host Controller Interface), RAID volumes are not possible. I'll have to go back and set the BIOS SATA to RAID and then reinstall the OS.

I don't think he has a RAID volume on his system. There is another feature of the Intel Rapid Storage Technology that isn't available on my Intel 5 series board. It's called Accelerating the Storage System. It uses a fast disk (ssd - 64GB max) as a non-volatile cache to accelerate the storage system performance which is typically an hdd. Now I think I understand what's going on with the 500GB hdd and the 32GB ssd. I was reading the Help library on my system when I noticed this feature that I previously ignored, because it didn't apply to my system. I've copied a portion and included it as the enclosed quote.

Quote:

Accelerating the Storage SystemSolid state drives (SATA and mSATA) can be used as non-volatile intelligent caching for a disk or a volume present on your system. Moving frequently accessed data over to the cache allows you to improve overall system performance, increase read/write access speeds, and reduce system start-up times without adding more system memory.Acceleration devices include: Cache devices (used to enable acceleration): Solid-state drive: A storage device that uses integrated circuit assemblies as memory to store data persistently.Accelerated devices (devices that are capable of being accelerated):Hard disk drives: Storage devices that consist of rotational media.Hard disk drives can be configured in one of two ways:Single pass-through diskMulti-disk RAID volumeSolid-state hybrid drive: A storage device that consists of two or more types of storage media, a small amount of solid state media, used as a cache, and a larger amount of rotational media. Access to either media can be managed using host-provided hybrid hints and/or directly by the drive firmware.This feature also increases the power efficiency of a mobile computer by retaining stored data and reading data from the cache instead of the disk itself.

A hard disk or RAID volume (array members must all be hard disks) is eligible for acceleration.No recovery volume is present.LimitationsThe maximum cache size is 64 GB.Only one disk or volume at a time can be accelerated per system.Matrix arrays are not supported: If two volumes are present on a single array (they share the same array of disks), neither volume can be accelerated.Once a volume is accelerated, a second volume cannot be added to the same array.Once a solid-state drive is configured to be used as a cache device, the option to create a recovery volume is no longer available. Recovery volumes do not support system configurations with multiple volumes.The maximum number of volumes allowed in the storage system is four. In the event that the combination of the solid-state drive configuration (data volume and cache volume) and system or data volumes reaches the limit, the application will not allow the acceleration of a disk or volume. You will need to delete one of the data volumes present in the storage system to enable acceleration on a disk or volume.

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